Baby Taurens
by nienorbun
Summary: One-off to explain me and my sister's characters when we joined an RP guild. It's a cute little origins story.


One-off I did to explain my and my sister's character names when we joined an RP guild in World of Warcraft. I had more ideas for stories based on these characters at the time, but I don't think it will happen now.

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From a yurt on the outskirts of Bloodhoof Village came the sounds of a baby crying. In fact, make that two babies.

Inside the tent Vari Hoofstomper looked up from her stitching with an exasperated expression. On the brightly coloured rug in front of her stool tumbled two tiny Tauren girls, busy pulling each others plaits and twisting horns. Both had the still undefined mottled colouring of babies, making them look almost identical.

"Stop that please girls," ordered Vari, and then sighed, put down the small hide skirt she was making and gathered both of the babies into her arms. "Can't you two behave for even a second?" She held them up in front of her. One of them promptly leant forward and bit her on her snout, hard.

"Oww!"

Eyes watering, Vari disengaged herself from the two babies and looked around for someway to occupy their attention less destructively. The baby who had bitten her started industriously trying to bite through the hem of her robe. The other baby sat there with its hoof in its mouth, looking very solemn.

"I think," pondered Vari, twitching her skirt away from the baby's ministrations, "I think, that you must be my little druid. And since you are as bitey as a ferret, I shall name you Wereferret." She turned to look at her other child. "And you, my dear, remind me of that lovely visitor with the 4 sons who stopped by last year. She had the same solemn eyes, and her sons were great hunters. You, I name Gefiun."

She took a deep breath. Naming was a serious thing, and she hadn't meant to do it so whimsically. But it felt right to her, now that it was done. Which was a good thing, because once named, a Tauren would bear that name for life.

At that moment, she heard a cough from behind her.

Silhouetted against the entrance of the yurt stood a regal elder male. The feathers in his headdress and his embroidered robe proclaimed him as an important figure in the tribe. But his expression was slightly embarrassed as he entered the yurt.

"Greetings, Vari. How are you and your youngsters?"

Vari bobbed her head in deference, "Very…active, most esteemed Elder Dawnhoof. I must thank you and the other elders for doing the Seeing on my girls. It's wonderful to know that they will take after me and their father.'

Elder Dawnhoof scratched his horn absently. "Just part of the tribe's responsibility to you and yours, my dear." He bent down and picked up the solemn baby, muttering a little about 'old bones' as he straightened up.

"Who's my sweet little druid then, who is?" He cooed, holding the baby in front of his face. The baby's eyes grew wider.

"Um, Elder," Vari bit her lip at the thought of contradicting so learned a tauren, "that's Gefiun, my little hunter. And," she looked around for Wereferret but couldn't locate her, "my druid Wereferret is around here somewhere, or at least she was a moment ago."

"No, no, I'm sure this is the druid. Did the Seeing on her myself, I did." Elder Dawnhoof's beaming smile faded as he noticed Vari's look of horror.

"Then I've named them wrong, Elder!" she whispered, aghast. "Whatever shall I do?!"

The Elder's face puckered in a look of pain for a second, and then he looked down towards his feet. Vari's eyes followed his gaze.

"Actually," he said ruminatively, "I think you have named them very aptly. No need to worry…about that, in any case."

His tail half-lifted out of his robe. Dangling by clenched teeth from the tail tuft, feet kicking a foot from the ground, hung the baby Wereferret; her tiny ears fluttering and eyes screwed up as she bit for dear life.

As Vari grimly worked the baby's jaws free of Elder Dawnhoof's abused tail, he commented, "I think she's going to be a very…feral hunter. Good bond with her pets, you know."

Vari sighed, and tried not to think about having to bring up feral hunters and solemn druids for the next 20 years….


End file.
